General cargo ship Skagern aground in Sweden

The general cargo ship Skagern ran aground on sandbank of Gota river near Trollhattan, Sweden. The vessel suffered blackout shortly after leaving the port and left the fairway, stucking into the sandbank. The grounding caused breached of the hull and water ingress, which caused cargo ship’s listing to starboard. Fortunately the water ingress was not more than the ship’s own pumps capacity and shortly the situation was taken under control. The accident was reported to the local authorities and at the scene of the grounded freighter Skagern were sent divers, who will inspect the underwater damages of the hull and after that will be decided how to proceed with the salvage work. Fortunately during the accident there were no reported injuries among the crew. The area around the grounded cargo ship is under monitoring for oil leaks and water pollution.

According to preliminary information, the grounding was caused by blackout and failure of the main engine. When the emergency generator started working, it was too late and the freighter ran onto the rocks and hardly stuck. The accident happened outside the fairway and the traffic in the area was not affected.

The general cargo ship Skagern (IMO: 9197791) has overall length of 82.50 m, moulded beam of 12.40 m and maximum draft of 5.30 m. The deadweight of the freighter is 3,171 DWT and the gross tonnage is 2,301 GRT. The vessel was built in 2000 by Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries in Romania and operate under the flag of Netherlands. During the accident, the freighter was en route from Trollhattan, Sweden to Hull, UK with cargo of timber.